Stijn Spierings scored on a swerving, long-range effort in the 88th minute — just six minutes after entering his MLS debut — and Real Salt Lake rallied to a 2-1 victory over visiting Austin FC on Saturday night in Sandy, Utah.
The 30-year-old Dutchman, signed in late January from Denmark’s Brondby IF, is the first player above age 23 to score for Salt Lake (3-1-0, 9 points) this season and the only one in Saturday’s victory, RSL’s third straight.
The Claret-and-Cobalt’s earlier tally was an own goal, created by pressure from Noel Caliskan down the left flank about midway through the first half.
Jon Bell scored early for Austin (1-2-1, 4 points), which lost its third straight match in Salt Lake and fifth out of six since the Verde joined MLS in 2021.
Brad Stuver made seven saves in an exceptional performance, but could not keep Spierings’ effort from knuckling into the bottom-left corner.
Diego Luna, RSL’s 2025 leading scorer and an American World Cup hopeful, made his season debut off the bench in the 70th minute after missing the first three games with a knee injury.
Luna nearly broke the tie in the 87th minute on a strong RSL attack down the left, his effort blocked off the line by defender Brendan Hines-Ike.
But Spierings sprung to life a minute later, taking a throughball from center back Justen Glad in stride, turning his hips and immediately firing toward the target from beyond the penalty area before sighting the goal.
Bell put Austin in front at 18 minutes from a set piece. Facundo Torres provided the in-swinging ball on a free kick from the left flank about 12 yards beyond the penalty area.
Bell rose above Sergi Solans near the far post and powered a header back across the goal, bouncing off the turf before it nestled inside the left post.
The advantage lasted only six minutes before Caliskan’s pressure resulted in an equalizer.
After playing a give-and-go with Juan Manuel Sanabria down the left, Caliskan drove in a menacing left-footed cross.
Defender Oleksandr Svatok tried to volley it clear of the area while retreating toward his line. Instead, he hammered it past Stuver into his own net from close range.
–Field Level Media
